YES! I hear you! That "reward" cigarette at the end of a task had me "taskless" for quite some time. But just like everything else with quitting smoking....it will go away. It's just a trigger for some of us that we have to learn to get over. And what TIME WASTERS those "bookend" cigarettes are!!!! I always tell the story of the first weeks of my quit......I quit on November 15, 2009. It was only about two weeks before Thanksgiving.....I was expecting a houseful of family. As always, I began my preparations for the big meal the night before. These preparations always took me from early evening---6:00-7:00 to 2:00AM. I TRULY believed the prep took that long. WRONG! It was all of those get going and reward yourself cigarette breaks I took while doing it. That year, I began as usual and was completely done with the kitchen cleaned and shining by 9:30PM. I couldn't figure it out and was actually thinking in my "quit fog" (which happens) that I had forgotten to do something (s)........but NO! It was just that I wasn't taking all those start and stop breaks for smoking. I got through that first holiday and many,many more and every day, every month, every year, I am so very thankful I stopped using something that was harming my health as a reward for productivity. I can now start and complete everything I need to do with no cigarettes......and you will too. I PROMISE!

In a way quitting is a workout all on it's own. I get that. From what you've said you already work out (i.e. exercise), and do all the normal things you always did: go to work, take care of the family. What's different about your day when not smoking? Was there something you USED to do in the afternoon/evenings that you're not doing now because of the triggers? I don't quite understand. Where's the sloth part of that? A sloth, to my mind, does nothing most of the day. Seems to me you're doing something most of the day. It's ok to relax. Ya know?

Quitting takes energy. And a lot of it. Although we speak often about "accepting" the journey - well, for me, I fought the journey until I got to the acceptance part. Because once you get so tired of fighting the cravings, you either give up or HAVE to accept them And giving up was not in my last play book. I REALLY never wanted another Day One. And eventually after finally accepting them as a given part of the journey, they went away. Sorry. I went off into a different tangent.

Don't worry about the sloth. It's the 32 days of steadfast commitment that are the most important part right now. MOO

Hey Lisa. I find that when I get like that I think about smoking more and then get stuck in a funk. I've been there for two days and decided to turn it around to how I was when I first quit 38 days ago. I was tired of feeling conflicted and took the advice of many people. I got up and went for my 2 mile walk. I always love walking and being that this was healthy I recommitted to my quit and imagined all of my organs getting better without smoking. Hope this helps.

Lisa, for sure, and you are not alone! Many people do this! It is really quite challenging to re-train yourself into a whole different way of life without the added smoking! I would do the same thing, I even joined a gym, thinking I would use this in the evenings to take up some of my evening time, but nope! The gym did not get utilized as I thought!

But know this! You will get there ! I am just now starting to change my evening routine, I am at almost 5 months of my quit! I'm sure it's different for everyone, but for some it takes extra time to become stronger! Do not be hard on yourself for it!

I feel the exact same way! I feel lazy and unproductive since I quit 21/2 weeks ago! I was like you in that a cigarette was a reward for accomplishing a task. I find I can not get motivated to do things with the thought that it will not end with a cigarette. I know keeping busy would keep my mind off cravings, but I am really having difficulty getting started with anything. I am going to work on finding an alternative reward for myself - not sure what though. Let me know if you find something that helps, and I will do the same! Cat 52

Yep. You do enough during the day and take care of the family which means coming home and cooking and possibly dealing with kids young or older. Who says you need to do anything at night? Take a couple hours and veg. It can do wonders, or warp your mind one of the two. Or both come to think of it and that is not a bad thing.

OK y'all...for real...I thought I was the ONLY one to do that! Just vacuuming the house, I had to smoke one before I started and another when I was finished. Cooking dinner? One before I started, one while it was cooking, and another before I called the family to eat.

I used to ask myself "why in the hell do I do this?". Started thinking maybe it was an OCD thing. I had NO idea that other people did the same thing.

Now that I've quit smoking, I find myself on the couch a lot also. It's like I can't take that first step to do anything because my "starting gun" is gone.

OMG. For the first month or a little more I did a lot of laying in bed, licking my wounds, feeling sorry for myself, but saying also to myself it doesn't matter what I'm doing as long as I don't smoke. And you know what? It turns out I needed that time. My husband knew what was going on and was totally supportive. Some Nights I didn't even make dinner. We'd order in. Laundry and cleaning day I'd do just enough to reward myself with lying down for the afternoon. In fact I still, at almost 70 days smoke-free, feel that sometimes I just can't do what I had planned or what is expected of me. And it doesn't matter to me. Well I can't say that's true. Sometimes it matters. Like if someone invites me somewhere and I just can't go because I'm exhausted or cranky. But most of the time I figure it's just the cost I have to pay to stop smoking. Nothing else matters. I will prevail.

Yep me too. I'm on day 113, still a sloth and 20 pounds heavier. Not where I want to be.but I haven't smoked and will be a little more productive when the weather warms up. I despise cold weather. BUT I haven't smoked. I came really, really close to smoking yesterday and today but today I sat outside in the parking lot of the gas station fighting with myself about getting a pack of smokes. The gum I chew is only available a couple of places around here and that place was one of the two. It took everything I had not to ask for a pack of cigarettes when I was paying the cashier. I walked out with 4 packs of gum and nothing else. It reminded me that I don't have to smoke, it's a choice and this time I "have chosen wisely" (Indiana Jones Last Crusade). Another urge to smoke will come along in this quit but I made it over one hurdle, on to the next. You take care of yourself, This is still detox stage!

I wore a whole in my leather couch with my elbow. I had always been a very productive person smoking all those cigarettes. Quitting stopped me in my tracks too. You will figure out life one day at a time in your journey to wellness. I think you are doing great. Keep taking good care of yourself.

It takes time to get over that fear of starting something and then missing the "reward" cigarette. We CAN find ways to reward ourselves that are not HARMING us. I was really sick when I quit and there was no cleaning out closets or drawers for me, I couldn't even work out for quite a while. It DOES get better.